Activists Shut Down Keystone XL Contractor's DC Office

On July 26, 2013, 54 activists blockaded the downtown DC offices of Environmental Resources Management (ERM) to protest the firm’s role in reviewing the Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline. ERM was hired to write the State Department’s Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. But ERM failed to disclose business ties to TransCanada, the firm building Keystone XL, and over a dozen companies–including Exxon, Shell, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Total and Syncrude–with operating stakes in the Alberta tar sands. ERM is also a member of the American Petroleum Institute, the largest U.S. trade association for the fossil fuel industry.

The action was coordinated via 350.org’s “Summer Heat” mobilization and the Walk for Our Grandchildren.